Digital art by River City Art Association member Sheila K. Ter Meer will be featured throughout June in the Artist of the Month gallery space at the Vigo County Public Library in Terre Haute.

The Brazil, Indiana, native is a self-taught artist honored for her nature photography and expressionistic style at local, regional and national juried exhibitions.

Orbs Kaleid by Sheila K. Ter Meer

Her photographic images have been featured in two “Indiana, Naturally” exhibitions in the Indianapolis International Airport. And her digital art abstractions were selected for Arts Illiana’s national “Black & White” exhibition earlier this year, as well as the current exhibition, “Self Portraits: The Original Selfie.”
Ter Meer draws inspiration from the beauty of the world around her and life experiences as a Hoosier woman, mother, and child of God.
Her photographic works illustrate her life story: family, friends, pets, Indiana wildlife and plant life, rustic barns and pastoral scenes, sunrises and sunsets and tourist attractions. She has a special interest in pareidolia, the psychological phenomenon of seeing faces, figures or animals in clouds, tree bark, wood grain, rock, sand, shadows, water, or any natural area or manmade object where they do not actually exist.
Her first photographic experience with pareidolia – an image of a dog in water, created by happy accident while practicing camera settings – received Best of Show at the 2014 Covered Bridge Art Association Associate Members Show, awarding her the opportunity to be featured in a one-woman show in 2015 in CBAA’s Gallery at Rockville.
To satisfy her childlike enthusiasm for fantasy and whimsies – anything playful or fanciful, as an artistic creation – Ter Meer takes creative license with many of her traditional images to design one-of-a-kind abstractions for emotive or expressive purposes.
The computer literally and figuratively created “The Spark” that ignited her imagination. That first abstract ball of fire kindled a desire to express herself through digital art abstractions.
Ter Meer combines digital processes with traditional photography techniques to
intensify the colors and contort the form. Brilliant designs on a black background liken some of her artistic expressions to blacklight and scratchboard art.
Once an abstract design is complete, Ter Meer interprets the first image or emotion evoked by her mind’s eye and titles the artwork accordingly.
To make many of her art pieces command even more attention, she tries to think outside the frame. Stripping away conventional parameters and exposing the image on canvas, leather, Masonite, acrylic and aluminum, she believes, creates a unique presentation and dramatic viewing experience.
Ter Meer tells her life story through her photographic works and digital art on Sheila T Illustrated, her website at SheilaTphotography.WordPress.com.